On the A701 lies Penicuik (pronounced 'Pennycook despite its spelling), a town in Midlothian, Scotland with a population of around 15,700. Positioned in between Edinburgh and Peebles, the settlement was constructed as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, becoming a burgh in 1867. Its initial local industry were its widely known paper mills, with the last of these shutting down in 2004. The town name, Penicuik, is stemmed from 'Pen Y Cog', meaning specifically, 'Hill of the Cuckoo' in Ancient British. The small town does have its international links, and is twinned with the town of L'îsle-sur-la-Sourge in France. The first instance of the reference of the town was in 1296. Thomas Rymer's text Foedera details a 'Walter Edgar a person Penicok south of Edenburgh', and is exactly what the town's name developed from and into today's spelling. Pennycook, another step on the ladder of Penicuik's spelling evolution, appears on John Adair's map from 1862. However, in the background of the town itself, full growth commenced when the Cowan family arrived around 1770, and brought the business of their paper mill. This brought the demand for homes for employees, resulting in general population increasing to 1,700 by 1800. Penicuik was additionally used as the site of a prison camp for soldiers from the French Napoleonic wars, but in our present day, it is presently the site of a housing development. However, a monument dated back to 1830 commemorates the 309 detainees who died there during the years 1811-1814. For all your home upgrades, make certain to make use of dependable professionals in Penicuik to make certain of quality.